Small Business is Big Business

Starting a business? Confused about the planning, legal and regulatory steps you should follow? These 10 steps can help you plan, prepare, and manage your business – while taking care of the startup legalities.

The SBA is working hard to make sure small business owners and entrepreneurs have the access to capital they need to start and grow their businesses. This resulted in a record lending year in 2011, where we supported $30 billion in loans to over 60,000 small businesses. And while we’ve made great progress, we know there is more work to be done. One area we are focused on is opening the doors of entrepreneurship to more communities and demographics.

To make this possible, we’re focused on underrepresented communities and young people, streamlining loan products and simplifying access points to create more opportunities to succeed. One way to do this is to link young people to the resources they need to make their dreams of starting a business a reality.

All companies, whether small or large, whether new or established, must innovate. In fact, all companies eventually reach a crisis where the options are stark and simple. You can innovate, or you can die.

From our founding, people have come to America’s shores with a vision for a better future for themselves and their families. America’s story is rooted in the journey of these individuals. And National Hispanic Heritage month is an opportunity to not only recognize the enormous contributions of Hispanic Americans but to ensure that programs and policies are in place to ensure those contributions continue.